WHITE PLAINS, NY — SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has introduced a new logo and Website (smpte.org). Along with these changes, the organization is redefining the way it serves professionals so that the Society can be more accessible and agile in meeting its members' needs.
In addition to building enhanced value into its educational offerings, standards work, and networking events, the Society is developing plans to promote greater diversity, equity and inclusion within SMPTE and the industry as a whole.
"SMPTE is transforming every element of its business to meet the changing needs of creative and technology professionals in the digital media industry," explains Patrick Griffis, president of SMPTE. "Dramatic reimagination of our logo, Website, and the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal — as well as this year’s virtual annual technical conference — may be the first things you notice. But look more deeply, and you'll see that we're creating strategic changes to give all our members even better access to the tools, expertise, educational offerings, and rich global network of colleagues that are vital to their career success."
The new SMPTE logo features an updated typeface and iconic camera iris graphic represented in the renowned SMPTE Color Bar colors. The redesigned Website features this new logo, as well as a fresh and inviting user experience. Changes to both site structure and content bring convenient access to relevant, timely, and useful information and educational material. Over time, the Society will continue to expand this offering and the utility of smpte.org.
The ongoing process of reimagining SMPTE is being steered by a three-year strategic plan launched in 2019. Over the past two years, the Society has re-examined its guiding principles, vision, mission, and value propositions and refined them to emphasize the Society's role as a global organization while stressing its ongoing commitment to being both inclusive and objective in considering all perspectives.
SMPTE plans to promote greater diversity, equity, and inclusion and will continue to amplify the talents of a broader spectrum of media technology professionals of every nationality, race, gender and career stage. The Society has taken a first step by being the industry's first standards body to scrub its documents and replace technical terms that could be considered racially offensive with more accurate and thoughtful language.
In terms of standards work, SMPTE is adapting to be nimbler and more responsive to quickly changing media technologies, creative techniques, and business models. Changes include focusing on more software-oriented standards and using more software-based tools to manage and streamline the standardization process. SMPTE also is augmenting its rigorous standards development process with new models that allow members and the public at large to contribute to various standards-like documents.
The evolution of SMPTE will also be evident in this year's annual technical conference, SMPTE 2020: "Game On", a virtual event running November 10th through 12th.